You seem to have found a solid work/life balance; are there any other issues facing women you think we should take to the streets about?
I don’t know if I have an answer for that. One thing that I have found quite difficult to navigate recently is that there have been a lot of questions about discrimination in the Hollywood work place. One journalist actually asked me if I knew if I got paid less than Michael Fassbender on Steve Jobs? I was like, “I’m sorry? You’re really asking me that question?” What I find hard is that something has happened recently whereby these types of conversation about salary, and if there are good roles for women or not, and why there aren’t many female directors are happening more. Some of it I could give you an educated answer on and some of it I don’t know why that is. But what I do know is that those types of conversations have got to have a shelf life because they overshadow the great achievements that women are making. It is not that there is any part of me that feels any lack of support for my fellow actresses at all, but I feel so fortunate to have made a career for myself and never experienced any discrimination.

You’re about to be honoured by Bafta. Which role are you most looking forward to revisiting?
Heavenly Creatures, I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the biggest turning point of my life. Some actors will be cast in their first film and that first film might never see the light of day. That was my first audition for a film, so the fact that I got the job was amazing. If it hadn’t been for that I’d have never got the audition for Sense And Sensibility, and if I hadn’t been in Sense And Sensibility, I wouldn’t have been in Hamlet, or Titanic…

So where would you be?
God knows. I’d probably be living in Islington doing theatre. That was what I always imagined I’d be doing, I never imagined I’d be in films at all.

Do you ever have a pang of regret that didn’t happen?
None whatsoever, I don’t have regrets about anything, I think that it is a wasted emotion. Guilt and regret, I just don’t believe in.

How do you manage that?
The only thing I used to feel guilty about was being a working mother. I think people assume that busy film actresses just leave our children and go off to work for three months; that has never happened, that will never happen. I would rather cut my head off. But certainly just being that busy when Mia was little, it took a while to achieve that balance and to realise that I didn’t have to feel guilty because I was enhancing who I was, laying down the foundations of a future for both her and I and anyone else who came along, and I was able to set her a great example of being a strong, confident individual who is self-sufficient and resourceful.

The Dressmaker is a dark comedy, which isn’t something you’ve really done before…
I have never played a role quite like Tilly. You know, in a way I have never played a character who was quite so isolated at the beginning of the story and I really enjoyed exploring her quick-wittedness.

You seem quite Zen. Do you practise meditation?
No, I can’t do meditation really because I just end up making lists: PE kit, blueberries, Manchego, smoked salmon…

Is that an insight into your Ocado order Kate?
Well, I can’t even do Ocado because I like to see everything so I actually have to go to Waitrose. I do power yoga – that’s quite energetic and resets me a bit mentally and physically. That has kept me consistently strong without going crazy.

What is your friendship group like?
I don’t have many actor friends. I love the company of actors, but they’re a nightmare to pin down; they are always working. I have a mixture of local friends, and friends who I have known since I was 15 or 16, who are not necessarily my age, they are older. I love putting groups of people together, I can organise a group of 20 really good people. I’ll think ‘so and so will really get on with that person,’ so we’ll sit them next to each other at dinner and low and behold they will start their own friendships. I love that.

Who’s the cook at home?
I am. I love being inventive and I am a very big fan of the Hemsley and Hemsley girls, I love their passion. It is real back-to-basics food. I spent last night stuffing venison bones into a pot and making a bone broth. Hang on, I’ll show you a photo, it is pretty funny [she runs to get her phone].

Have you got a spiralizer?
Hell yeah!

A crucial question we’ve been debating at Stylist, what’s the best chocolate at Christmas?
The green triangle from Quality Street!

Outside of the kitchen, have your interests developed as you’ve got older?
Since meeting Ned, the things that I’ve always hoped that I might one day do, I have done. I have climbed so many mountains now… like actually climbed mountains.

What do you get from climbing a mountain?
I have always been much happier in the elements than sitting in one place at a desk. Having a life partner who matches me for energy and zest for life is pretty extraordinary. I don’t want to be the person that sits and looks at the mountain; I want to climb to the top.

The Dressmaker opens nationwide on 20 November, watch the trailer

Photography: Trunkarchive.com, Rex

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“I don't give a sh*t what people think anymore (and it's great)” The kick-ass Kate Winslet on her life lessons